Where The Heart Is
by mystiri1
Summary: One-shot. Some monsters are more welcome than others. Cid/Vincent's Nobodies. Implied Riku/Sora. Shounen-ai.


_**Author's notes:** written for areyougame on IJ, for the prompt: Kingdom Hearts, Org!Vincent/Cid (or KH character of author's choice): xeno/shape-shifting - __Cid never expected to encounter Vincent's Nobody. It didn't quite fit the prompt as it went in a slightly different direction than I intended, but I couldn't help but wonder if Vincent wouldn't have more than one Nobody, given his circumstances._

___**Warnings:** implied male/male relationships._  


* * *

Heartless incursions were nothing new to Radiant Garden. But the grid system usually warned them, which was why Yuffie was surprised to find an unusual looking beast sniffing about the postern gate. She took one look at the hulking size of it, and turned around to head back to the Restoration Committee 's headquarters at a run.

She found Cloud there, not having a conversation with Sora while Leon worked at the computer console, Riku peering over his shoulder. The spiky-haired Keyblade master seemed unbothered by the lack of response, and was doing talking enough for both of them. They all turned at her rather precipitous entrance.

"Guys! There's this huge monster in the postern!"

"The warnings haven't gone off," Leon said, but he was already reaching for his sword.

"It was kind of odd-looking," Yuffie admitted. "I didn't recognise it. Maybe the security system doesn't either."

"Hn." Cloud headed for the door. "All the more reason to deal with it quickly."

"Yeah!" Sora cried out. "C'mon, Riku."

"You're the one taking too long," the silver-haired teen called over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

"Wait up!"

Yuffie realised she was being left behind, too, and scrambled to follow. Just because she wasn't going to fight it by herself didn't mean she didn't want to fight.

It was weird, though, she thought as she saw all four of them surrounding it, swords and keyblades drawn. Something in the way it moved, ignoring lesser blows landed against it, striking back every now and then with a lazy swipe of its huge paws, suggested it simply wasn't interested in fighting.

"It doesn't look like any Heartless I've ever seen," Leon said.

"Because it isn't," Riku said unexpectedly. "That's a Nobody."

"A Nobody?" Yuffie said in surprise. The only Nobodies she'd ever seen were those weird guys in black cloaks, and those strange wispy creatures that moved like they had no bones.

"What's left behind when someone really strong-willed becomes a Heartless," Sora said. "But I've never seen a Nobody like that, either."

"The more powerful a Nobody is, the closer it stays to its original form," Riku pointed out. "The strongest usually had only the slightest change in their appearance, usually in something cosmetic like hair or eye colour. This looks pretty close. Only the upper part of its face is hidden."

And that was true. An odd, smooth looking visor curved about the creature's head, hiding where its eyes should be. It struck Yuffie as slightly creepy, because the smooth white material didn't look see-through, and that mean the creature fighting them wasn't using its eyes – if it even _had_ any.

She shuddered.

The sound of metal hitting stone made her turn, and she saw Cloud had stepped back, and was leaning on his sword.

"The stronger it is, the closer it will stay to its original form?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sora answered. "I'd hate to meet this guy's Heartless."

"Yuffie, go get Cid."

"Huh?" The teen looked at Cloud in astonishment.

"Don't you recognise it? Go get Cid. Now."

* * *

Cid only understood half of Yuffie's excited babbling, but it was enough to get his attention. There was some kind of monster in the postern, and somehow the security system had failed to pick it up. "Tron? There any damage?"

"I am not registering anything, but I can bring the area up on the cameras."

A picture flicked up on the main screen. Riku, Sora, Cloud and Leon surrounded around a large beast of some sort, but none of them were fighting. They appeared to be waiting. The beast was large, currently on all fours but something in the way it was built suggested it could stand on two just as easily. It was powerfully built, grey-furred with a white mane, and something smooth and white that wrapped its head where its eyes should have been. Beneath the visor-like attachment was a strong-jawed muzzle, long teeth showing clearly as its head swung in the direction of the castle. The tip of the muzzle twitch upwards, as if scenting the air.

It was an oddly familiar sight.

"What the -"

"Cloud said it's a Nobody, asked me if I recognised it, then sent me to get you," Yuffie rushed out.

Cid just grunted, eyes still on the screen. "Guess I'd better get out there, then." He grabbed his spear on the way out the computer room, but didn't hurry, despite Yuffie's agitated dancing about. There was no way it could be what – _who_ - Cloud thought it was.

But when he left the castle, he was somehow not surprised to hear Sora cry out, "Whoa! Where's it going?"

That, and the scrabbling of claws upon stone was all the warning Cid had before a huge, furred weight bowled him over.

It was.

"Dammit, furball, get _off_ me."

* * *

Although the furred bulk leaning against his leg was oddly comforting, for the most part Cid found the Galian Beast's sudden reappearance depressing. If what Riku and Sora said was true, then it simply confirmed that yes, Vincent _had_ lost his heart when their world fell.

"So this guy Vincent had four demons living inside him?" Sora looked fascinated

"Yeah, although it wasn't exactly by invitation. Some whacked-out scientist did it to him." Cid still had dark thoughts about what he'd do to that particular bastard if he got the chance, even if it was likely irrelevant now.

The mention of scientists was enough to make both Riku and Cloud look grim.

"Do demons have hearts, then?" Sora asked.

"It might have been enough that Vincent lost his," Cloud said quietly.

"Oh."

"So what do we do about this – uh, Beast?" Leon asked.

Cloud shrugged. "From the looks of it? The same thing we always did."

Cid gave him an unappreciative look, but his fingers didn't move from where they were buried in the thick fur of Galian's mane, and slowly rubbing.

"Which is?"

"Let Cid take care of it."

* * *

Although the size of him was certainly cause enough for alarm, the residents of Radiant Garden quickly grew accustomed to the sight of the huge grey creature following around behind Cid. For a short time, curious children also followed them both, but it only took a warning or two to persuade the parents that no, they didn't want their children playing with the Beast. It wasn't so much that he was dangerous – he was – but Galian only tended to attack when he was hurt or annoyed. Cid wasn't sure about the Beast, but _he_ found small children annoying enough for both of them.

He did worry a little the first time the Galian Beast took off on his own, only to discover that he'd headed down the ravine to indulge in a little hunting. Tron had some cameras angled in that direction, and brought it up on the main screen for Cid to watch. While Cid wouldn't admit to breathing a sigh of relief, he made no effort to hide the smirk the Beast's antics bought about. It was ludicrous to see something that size pouncing on Neo-Shadows like an overgrown house-cat with a mouse. He wouldn't begrudge him the extra exercise; after all, it kept the numbers of Heartless down.

A month passed, and they settled into a routine, of sorts. Cid thought it wasn't much different from owning a large dog, except the Beast took himself for walks and didn't eat much. Or possibly fed himself. And Cid had always secretly wanted a puppy as a child. He just tried not to think about who else _wasn't _there.

Then the second alarm came.

* * *

Radiant Garden was used to keeping an eye on things that might attack from above. It was a legacy both of Sephiroth's visits, and the occasional marauding dragon. The former General usually just stayed around long enough to pick a fight with somebody. As killing him never seemed to stick for long, and he avoided killing his opponents, Cid figured it was just Sephiroth's way of looking for sparring partners. But the dragons were often big, stupid, and fire-breathing, which was enough to concern anybody who didn't want to have to rebuild an entire town again.

So reports of a winged figure sitting on top of the castle meant that Cloud was summoned to take care of it. Cid never even looked up from the gummi engine he was working on. Sure, he could fight, but Sephiroth was hardly likely to consider him a worthy opponent, however bored he was. He thought nothing of it until Galian raised his head with a quizzical sound seconds before Yuffie came pounding into the garage.

Honestly, Cid thought, he didn't see how anyone quite so loud could claim to be a ninja.

"Cloud says," she panted, "this one's for you."

Even before he came within sight of the castle, he knew what he was going to see.

Perched on one of the towers was a winged figure, but the silhouette was all wrong for the Silver General. The Galian Beast threw his head back and howled; in response, the figure spread its bat-like wings and dove towards the courtyard. It came to a halt a few metres in front of Cid, feet touching cobblestones as gently as if it weighed nothing at all. The Beast padded forward, snuffled at the red tatters almost happily, but Chaos ignored it in favour of giving Cid a long, inscrutable stare.

Cid stared right back.

The changes to the most dangerous of Vincent's demons were superficial at best. Even though Cid knew Vincent had given Cloud his red cape at some point, the demon still wore the deep scarlet fabric, leading him to wonder if it was less a case of Chaos and Vincent sharing the same wardrobe as it was that they shared the same taste in clothing. He'd once had flesh that was pale grey, darkening to black as it reached his torso. Now he was wrought in shades of pale violet and deep amethyst.

Cid wasn't sure if it was this warmer colouration or the company he'd been keeping that made him realise that the face the demon wore was still soft and young-looking: the face of a young man who hadn't yet finished his growing, although he was no longer quite a child. It was strange to think that Chaos might be the demonic version of a teenager, and worrying, given the teenagers Cid was familiar with. It wasn't that that disturbed him most, though.

Chaos had Vincent's eyes.

Every other time Cid had seen Chaos, his eyes were an eerie, glowing red. More than a few times, he'd seen Vincent's eyes bleed to that inhuman shade when he was upset about something, or lighten to a bestial shade of gold. But Vincent's own eyes were somewhere in between, a lovely shade of light amber that made Cid think of his favourite blend of tea. He'd never been particularly disturbed when he looked into Vincent's eyes and saw the man's demons staring back at him; he was highly disturbed now that it was the other way around.

"What th' hell are you doing here?" he blurted. _And what happened to Vincent?_

"Waiting," the demon said, lips twisting in something that wasn't quite a smile.

Cid scowled at the cryptic comment. "Waiting for what?" he barked, but he should have known better than to expect a straight answer from _this_ demon.

"To be whole again, of course. I do think I'll have a look around." And with that, he took off.

Cid was scowling at the shrinking figure in the sky when Riku asked, "Will it be all right to just let him go like that?"

When he turned to look at the silver-haired boy Cid was still mentally cursing bratty teenagers who didn't tell people enough about anything, and was surprised to see Riku flinch back a little. He blinked. "Eh. Probably. He isn't likely to break anything, anyway."

"What about people?" Leon was wearing a frown of his own as he stared at the sky.

Cid shrugged. "Chaos just thinks they're strange." Of course, so did Vincent, at times.

"So was that another one of Vincent's demons?" Sora sounded more excited than worried, but then, the brown-haired kid rarely worried about any of the things that normal people did. Being that optimistic seemed to scramble his brains.

"Yeah. Hope that doesn't mean the others are going to show up." The thought of Hellmasker and Death Gigas wandering around the place was alarming.

"I don't think they will."

They all looked at Cloud.

"Riku said that Nobodies are formed by strong wills," Cloud pointed out. "Neither of them had much in the way of personality."

"That's true." Hellmasker and Gigas were both mostly violent expressions of rage. Neither of them had ever lingered after a fight, and usually disappeared before it was over, as if just existing outside of Vincent was too much to sustain long. Odd to think Vincent might be permanently down two residents, although he was sure the gunman wouldn't mind, wherever he was.

And he was sure Vincent had to be somewhere. After all, if some of his demons were strong-willed enough to form Nobodies, then surely the man who had held them within was stronger.

* * *

Chaos was less in evidence than the Galian Beast, but he still made his presence felt. Cid returned to the gummi ship he'd been working on, and within half an hour, he heard the scrabble of claws on the garage roof. When he emerged, Chaos was perched on the edge of it like some over-sized, aloof gargoyle.

It was several weeks before Cid discovered where he went at night. He was looking for something amongst the piles of scrap he'd collected in his backyard – you never knew when you might need a part for something – when he discovered a nest of sorts at the top of one heap. There were scraps of red and black fabric, which he identified as several different shirts, probably stolen off people's clotheslines. A heavy comforter which he recognised as having been on the bed in his seldom-used guest bedroom, even though he was sure Chaos had never been inside his house. Some brightly coloured marbles that were vaguely reminiscent of materia, a brassy lamp, a small hand-mirror. He supposed some might have even found it cute, except he recognised the leather and fur of one of his old flight jackets amongst the lining of the 'nest'. The insignia were now tattered and frayed, while the leather showed signs of having been exposed to the rain.

He cursed violently, and then decided to just leave it where it was.

Besides, he'd stopped believing Chaos' attempts at dignity the first time he'd seen him 'playing' with the Galian Beast in the ravine. Although Cid was quite sure nobody else would think of tossing Heartless for a game of fetch.

Two months passed, then three. At four, Cid stopped worrying about other demons appearing.

He couldn't help wondering about the gunman who hadn't.

Neither the Galian Beast or Chaos seemed particularly disturbed by Vincent's continuing absence, but Cid was. What if he was wrong, and Vincent never became a Nobody?

In the end, he decided to ask Riku. The silver-haired teenager still knew more about Nobodies than anybody else did.

"I told you, strong-willed people also form Nobodies when they lose their hearts. If this Vincent was strong enough to hold four demons within himself without going crazy, or losing control, he must have been very strong-willed. Possession isn't an easy thing to fight." Riku's eyes darkened slightly, and Sora nudged him with an unsubtle elbow to the ribs, leaning against him a little.

"So what happens then?" Cid growled impatiently.

"Most of them gravitated towards the World That Never Was. I'm not entirely sure whether that was because the Organisation was there – maybe they were drawn to the stronger Nobodies – or because Xemnas was trying to collect hearts freed by killing Heartless in order to reach Kingdom Hearts. Most Nobodies seem to want their Hearts back, but the weaker ones fade over time. I'm not sure what they're doing now," Riku admitted. "We've had reports of Nobodies showing up in some really odd places. But I'd assume it's still true, about them wanting their Hearts back. Even the weaker ones seem to recognise that they aren't... complete."

"Chaos said he was waiting to be whole again," Sora piped up. "So he must think this is where that's going to happen."

Cid snorted. "Don't know why he's so sure Vincent's gonna show up here after all this time. It's not like he's even been here before. It would make more sense to go search the World That Never Was." And Cid couldn't help but feel a little tempted to do just that.

"Because it's not _just_ Vincent that they're looking for." Sora looked at him as if he was slow. "Vincent will turn up here eventually. I'm sure they're right about _that_." Conviction was strong in his voice, making Cid wonder if for once it wasn't just the Key-Bearer's eternal optimism behind the encouraging words.

"Why are you so sure about that?"

Sora glanced at Riku. He covered the older boy's hand with his, laced their fingers together. When he looked back at Cid, his eyes were oddly knowing. "Because you're here. That's why the Galian Beast and Chaos showed up, why they stick close to you." The Key-Bearer smiled.

"Nobodies want to be whole again. Where else would Vincent find his Heart?"


End file.
